Balto: My Soul to Take
by Skillets
Summary: A killer stalks the streets of Nome and he won't be satisfied until he's had his fill of blood. All the young dogs of Nome better beware... The Ripper is coming for you... Kodi must stop the killer, but there's a problem: he could be the killer...


_Now I lay me down to sleep,__  
><em>_I pray the Lord my soul to keep;_  
><em>If I should die before I wake,<em>  
><em>I pray the Lord my soul to take—<em>

...

"It's awful, just awful," a pretty red and white husky chided, shaking her head. She looked down at her belly and beamed at the unborn pups within.

"Horrible," muttered another female dog, also a red and white husky. She looked exactly like the pregnant husky, though she wasn't pregnant. Two more dogs were laying with the huskies on a rug right next to a fireplace. The fire was low and glowing deep orange. It lit up the surrounding dogs and cast the whole room into strange shadows. The light from the fire turned the rug the color of blood.

"Can you believe that so many were killed?" A scruffy dark brown mutt chimed in. Shaking his head in disbelief, he turned his gaze on the red husky that first spoke and tenderly licked her cheek.

"And only by just one dog," another, lighter mutt added… "The Ripper…"

"Please don't say that name," the second husky begged, her eyes wide.

"What? Afraid he'll come and get you?" The light-brown mutt whispered portentously, a dark, playful glint illuminating his eyes.

"Balto, stop it this instant! You're scaring me."

"Awww… c'mon Jen," he pleaded. "I was only kidding."

"Jenna's right," the first husky said, a slight pretentious note accompanying her voice. "This is no laughing matter. Seven dogs are dead, and the culprit is still at large—"

"Blah, blah, blah…" Balto mocked, rolling his eyes.

"Balto, this is serious, we should be a little concerned," agreed the darker mutt. "After all, things like these don't happen every day, especially in Nome."

"And what about the victim's families," Jenna began, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "I just can't imagine what they're going through right now… if anything like this ever happened to you―"

"Oh, Jenna," Balto was humbled by her pure kindness. He immediately felt guilty for mocking somebody's tragedy. If anything like that happened to Jenna or the pups... he wouldn't know what to do. He sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Sshh," Abel whispered. "We shouldn't be talking about this now." He motioned toward a small basket in the far corner of the dark room. On it was a sleeping red puppy, about six months old. Her tiny belly rose and fell with gentle breath. She was sleeping soundly.

"If Saba woke up and she heard this," Sarah said, "we'd probably be the worst parents in the world."

"Hey, _we're _the worst parents in the world," Balto joked. "We left our kids at home when a serial killer's on the loose." Everyone chuckled. Balto wasn't worried, however. He knew that serial killers only attack a certain type of victim, and killing newborn pups didn't fit the Ripper's profile.

"It's getting late," Jenna said suddenly and uneasily. "We should get back to the pups." Balto instantly understood his mate's hidden message. _Let's go home before we find our children and babysitter murdered. _Balto nodded, a slight, cold fear gripping him. The fact of being a new father made him just a bit worrisome, when otherwise he would've just brushed off the fearful implications of a similar joke instantly.

"Are you sure you want to leave so soon?" The darker mutt said.

"Yeah," Balto said, getting up and shaking the fear from his fur. "We don't want to be out too late with a killer on the loose. But thanks anyway, Abel."

"Okay," Abel said. "I understand. Sarah would probably be just as worried as well."

Suddenly, the pregnant husky spoke up. "Not at all, I was always the bravest pup in the litter." She gave her mate an annoyed look.

"Well, maybe it's wise to be fearful, sis," Jenna said. "After all, our pups are just a couple of days old. Maybe you'll feel differently when you have your pups."

"Yeah, like tomorrow," Sarah said. The small group chucked slightly, but now Sarah was starting to get nervous. "What I really want to know," she said. "Is how he does it. How he kills all those dogs."

"Well," Balto said, turning around to humor his in-law. "I heard he does the standard throat tearing, but sometimes he uses his signature harness to choke the life out of his victims." He was getting into it now. "On the harness, written in gold, is one word: _Vengeance_."

"What is he avenging?" Sarah asked softly, fear was now etched clearly on her face, much to Balto's pleasure.

"Who knows," Balto said cryptically. "Maybe some wrong from another life…"

"Oh, please," Jenna said, rolling her eyes, "not that nonsense again."

"What? It could happen," Balto said.

"C'mon, let's go," Jenna said, suppressing a giggle. Sarah slowly lumbered up and followed them to the door.

After some prompting from Jenna, Balto spoke. "I'm sorry for scaring you like that Sarah. But I'm sure nothing bad will happen to you or your pups."

"Yes," Jenna added. "And tonight, we'll pray for you and the pups." She looked around, her gaze sweeping the dim, fire lit room... "And the whole town too." And with that, Balto and Jenna hopped out of the pet flap and into the freezing cold. It was the middle of winter and snowing outside. It was almost tempting to go back into the warm house, but they needed to see their pups. They slowly began the long walk through the snow, across town, to Jenna's house.

After watching them gradually disappear into town through the window, Sarah sighed. "I'm going to bed," she said after a while. "You coming?"

"Nah," said Abel. "I've got some things I wanna finish up before tomorrow."

"Saba's present?" She said, stepping away from the window.

"Yeah, I'm almost finished. Just need to do a couple more things."

"Okay," she yawned. "Just don't stay up too late." She licked him on the cheek and then went into the next room. Abel watched her go for a second, listening to her retreating claws clicking on the hard wood floor, and then he went downstairs to the basement. Once there, he walked across the moonlit room to where a huge bone lay. A small rectangular window near the ceiling let in the moon, giving Abel just enough light to work by. It would be Saba's first bone, and goodness knew she needed it.

He had spent the last couple of nights working on this bone, because it was just huge, it must have come from a cow. Chewing off all the gristle, skin, and any other things pups probably shouldn't eat. He was so lucky. The butcher had let him have it because the meat was bad. He quickly gave the bone to the next dog that walked past the shop, which just so happened to be Abel. Immediately, after getting the bone, Abel thought that it would make the perfect present for Saba.

He was busy chewing on the bone when he spied something out of place lying under a pile of junk just ahead of him. It looked like a harness, but Abel definitely wasn't a sled dog, and neither was Sarah. Suspiciously, he rose and went to go check it out. Abel pulled it out from under a box, and it slid out easily. It was a sleek black harness. On one strap to the left side, a word was written, and Abel was one of those lucky dogs that could read human words. The word was _Vengeance. _

Abel recoiled and flung the harness halfway across the room in panic. With his heart thundering in his ears, he remembered what Balto had said.

The Ripper was in the house...

Instantly alert, Abel sniffed the air. It didn't smell like anything was wrong. He quickly ran up the stairs and made a quiet sweep of the house. There was no strange smells or anything wrong at all. Sarah and Saba lay peacefully in their baskets, and Abel was relieved to see the faint rise and fall of each of their chests.

He uneasily made his way back to the harness in the middle of the basement floor. The moonlight shone beautifully on the black leather. As Abel approached it, he couldn't help marveling at that. Then he thought: _If the Ripper wasn't in the house, then how did it get here? _Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit Abel, and he began to feel dizzy. He staggered and then collapsed on the floor. The last thing he saw was the illuminated harness swimming about his eyes. Then everything went black.

Abel snapped his eyes open. The harness was lying in the same position as it had lain before he fainted. But something was off. The moonlight no longer shone on it. In fact, the entire room was completely dark. Abel knew that a great deal of time must have passed between the moment he lost consciousness and now. Fearfully, he got up and licked his lips. His mouth was bone dry, and metallic tasting. He needed a drink. Slowly, he hobbled upstairs and into the living room. Looking over, he saw Saba gently breathing, laying in her basket. He then looked up at the clock. It was midnight.

With a creeping sense of terror, he went into the kitchen. He found the water bowl and gratefully lapped up all the water. When he finished, he licked his lips and his eyes wandered around the room. In her basket, Sarah lay, eerily still. She was covered in blood. In horror, Abel crept toward her. Her head hung limply over the side of the basket. The faint rise and fall of her large belly had ceased completely, and there was a hole torn in her throat, where blood was still oozing out and running down her once ivory chest.

Eyes wide in shock, Abel slowly backed out of the kitchen. Once away from the awful sight, he tore madly through the house, searching. There was no one else. He ended up in the bathroom, where he blacked out again. When he woke up, he knew, with a sick feeling, that he had something to do with this. After all, there was no one else in the house that could do it but him. Saba and the humans were ruled out completely.

He was the Ripper…

Suddenly he spoke. "Don't tell anyone." It was strange and alien, and he couldn't quite believe it came from him. But he felt himself agreeing. "Yes. I won't tell anyone."

Then he shouted: "I have to tell! I have to stop this!"

"NO!" He roared. "You tell and I will kill your daughter!"

"But you'll kill again," he said. "If I don't tell we'll kill again."

"Please, please don't tell," he begged meekly, whimpering.

"I thought I had you under control!" He shouted. "I had it under control." He thought of Sarah and started weeping. "It was all under control. It was."

"You could never control me!" He jeered loudly, laughing. Tears still stained his cheeks.

"I kept you under wraps," he started weeping again. "I went through therapy. You were supposed to be gone forever!"

"Never!" With tears streaming down his cheeks, he ran back into the kitchen.

"Look what you did!" He said, motioning angrily toward Sarah. "You killed her!"

"And I would've killed your precious little Saba too. If you tell anyone—"

"Dad?" Saba's tentative voice rang out across the room. Tensing up, Abel turned and looked at the doorway. Saba was standing there with a quizzical look on her face, she must have heard his rage filled rampage. She took a couple of steps forward and then stopped. She looked at her father's blood spattered muzzle and then she looked at Sarah's dead body behind him. She let out a small gasp that sounded like: "Oh!" Then she looked up at Abel in horror.

Abel clenched his teeth and cried. He began to speak, plead. "Saba—"

"Don't go any closer!" He growled, interrupting himself. "She's mine!" He walked slowly toward Saba with a hungry look on his face, smiling. She started backing away in terror, her mouth open, ready to scream.

Suddenly, Abel stopped. He shook his head and his eyes cleared. "Run."

Saba just stared, frozen in fear.

"Run, Saba! RUN!" His eyes clouded again and then he lunged. With a squeak of pure terror, Saba twisted around sharply and bolted across the living room and out the pet flap. Her tiny legs pounded the thick snow, running as fast as she could, but it would never be enough. He would grab her in seconds. Somehow, he didn't. He must have distracted himself, giving Saba enough time to reach the woods right next to the house.

She continued running through the woods, going as fast as her little legs could carry her, when she came across a patrol. Several dogs were sniffing around just ahead of Saba, their badges on their collars glinted in the moonlight. Saba recognized them as the police. She hollered and they sprinted up to her in shock. She skidded into a huge black and white husky's leg. They stared down at her with puzzled faces.

The husky began to ask a question. "Who—"

Suddenly, Saba melted onto the snow and started weeping. Her tiny body wracked with sobs, and she just burbled meaningless gibberish. The cops looked at each other in confusion, and then they heard the bushes rattling and saw a figure running toward them. Instantly they smelled blood.

"It's the Ripper!" The husky yelled, moving in front of Saba.

"Stop, it's the police!" Another dog said. The Ripper paused, and then he veered sharply toward the left and disappeared into the darkness of the undergrowth.

"After him!" The husky barked. "I'll take this one to the station." The dogs nodded and took off in pursuit. After the last police dog disappeared, the husky turned to Saba. "What's your name?"

She barely managed to squeak out "Saba" through her sobs. The husky gave her a sympathetic look, and tenderly picked her up by the scruff. He headed back to town. It had stopped snowing, and the moon hung directly overhead, large, and round.

Deep in the forest the officers were closing in on the Ripper. They had split up and sent one group to circle around and try to intercept the Ripper, but it looked like they didn't need it. It was an officer by the name of Jake, a medium sized dark gray husky, that overtook the Ripper.

He jumped on the Ripper's back and they both tumbled over and rolled through the snowy undergrowth. Jake veered back and raised his paw up, bringing it down hard on the Ripper's head, killing him. Panting, Jake stepped away from the body, and watched the police gather around him.

"Good job Jake," a brown husky by the name of Wilhelm said. Jake smiled slightly, still panting.

"It's finally over," a dark gray and black husky breathed. She looked at Jake, and sighed again, relieved. "Nicely done," she added. Everyone nodded. Jake had finally stopped the Ripper, Nome's most elusive and violent criminal. Everyone thought it would be impossible to find the Ripper, let alone kill him. But thanks to that mysterious red puppy, and Jake's heroism, Nome was now at peace.

As they were resting and congratulating Jake, a guttural voice roared: "FEAR YE, THE RIPPER!" The police flew back in shock as the Ripper jumped up and quickly dashed away, a few drops of blood flying swiftly from his head and onto the pure white snow.

Jake was the first to pick up his mouth from off the ground. "C'mon!" He eventually shouted. "After him!" The police charged forward, still not understanding what had just happened. At first the Ripper was dead. They had all seen Jake kill him. But now, they were suddenly chasing him again, following his bloody scent trail deeper into the dark woods. As they were coming up on him a second time, they saw the second group of cops jump him. The Ripper tried to avoid them, turning sharply and crashing into a tree. A sickening thud erupted as his head hit the rough bark. He fell to the ground, motionless.

Jake nervously jogged up to the second half of the patrol. "Is he dead?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the body.

"Should be," a cop snorted, rolling his eyes at such a rookie question. Jake ignored him and approached the body. As he came closer he realized that the Ripper wasn't breathing. Jake stood there waiting. _Was he going to come to life again? _Surely he couldn't survive such a blow to his head. He was moving way too fast when he hit the tree. No one could survive that.

"Come on Jake, let's call it in," Wilhelm said, a sullen tone creeping into his voice. Jake turned and looked at his partner, his eyes reflecting Jake's dread. With a snarl the Ripper leapt up and charged through the line of police, swiftly disappearing into the bushes.

"Not again!" The gray and black husky said, despairing. _How would they stop this guy? _

"Honestly!" Jake exclaimed. "This is starting to get ridiculous!" But they were afraid. They just could not place it in their minds. How could a dog resuscitate_ himself?_

"This is really bad," Nina panted, matching her stride easily with Jake's. "It's as if he has multiple souls…"

Wilhelm snorted. "Not likely, maybe a really tough demon?"

"Let's just focus," Jake cut in, this was starting to get creepy. Fortunately though, they quickly caught up to the Ripper. His wounds must be slowing him down. With a sudden, passionate cry of rage, Jake pounced on the Ripper and subsequently tore his chest open. He would not survive that.

Jake was shuddering as he tried to avoid the pool of blood flowing out from the body. He had just wanted to end this nightmare. But, with such a violent death on his paws, Jake was sure that he would get no sleep for many nights to come.

Nina stood over the Ripper's body, sniffing it, as a cop ran off to go call it in. "So much for multiple souls," Wilhelm said. Nina gave him an annoyed glare when the Ripper lunged for her throat. Nina let out one gurgling cry as the blood began to spurt from her wound. She fainted, and Jake rushed forward to cushion her fall with his body.

"I need help!" He shouted over the din of confusion. In all the chaos, the Ripper was able to dash away. Wilhelm reached Jake's side. Jake was pushing snow against Nina's neck in a desperate attempt to stem the steady gush of blood.

"We've sent help," Wilhelm said. "The Ripper's gone."

"I'll go after him," said Jake. "He's weak now, I can easily take him. You stay here with Nina." Wilhelm nodded, and Jake ran off through the woods in pursuit of the monster that had terrorized Nome for far too long. It was easy; all he had to do was follow the trail of blood.

Jake reached the beach. He scented the air and could tell that the Ripper had made his way through the sand and eventually to the ocean. _What was he doing_? Jake thought.

He left the tree line and loped down the beach. When he reached the water he stopped and looked around. The Ripper was not here. As Jake began to puzzle where the Ripper could've gone, he heard barking. The rest of the force was signaling to him, asking if it was safe. He responded and then swept one last gaze over the beach. He looked at the water and concluded that the Ripper must have drowned himself. He waited for the rest of the force to surround him and officially come to the same conclusion.

It was finally over.

…

Jake and Wilhelm were sent to the scene of the crime. They approached the dark house at the edge of the forest warily. After all, this had been the place that the Ripper called home for some months now. It was a regular house, and it made Jake shudder to think that only a few hours ago they would have just passed it by. Now they were entering it on their own accord.

They passed the threshold silently, trying not to wake the humans, and entered the dim room. Low, glowing embers were the only light, and Jake shivered with cold. The officers couldn't stop and warm up, however, for they were on duty. So, they continued on to the kitchen. Once they reached the dismal scene, Jake couldn't help but sigh and shake his head.

"All that life," he said slowly, "wasted." Wilhelm only stared back with grief glazed eyes in agreement. It was just horrible, a terrible tragedy to befall Nome. And to think it happened to the relatives of the legendary Balto too. This time, Wilhelm sighed. They were about to leave when Jake saw something out of the corner of his eye.

"What is it?" Wilhelm whispered. Jake watched the body with rapt attention.

"I think I saw it move."

"What? Impossible." But Wilhelm was watching Sarah's body now too, waiting. After a while he said: "I don't see anything."

"Look there it is!" Jake whispered sharply. He looked at Wilhelm, and as their eyes met Jake knew he had seen it too.

The body had moved.

The belly had bulged. Could it be? Could there still be life inside this dead body? It was impossible; Sarah had been dead for hours. She was completely ice-cold. There was no way that any unborn pups could survive that. Just when Jake and Wilhelm were about to leave again, thinking the movement was just a trick of the light and their own shattered nerves, they saw her belly bulge again. It seemed like whatever was inside was clawing angrily at the sides of Sarah's belly, trying desperately to get out. It wanted to live. Jake's jaw was opened wide in the purest shock. He couldn't believe it.

The pups were still alive…


End file.
